US 12,391,487 B2
Transport facility
Tomotaka Kinugawa, Hinocho (JP)
Assigned to Daifuku Co., Ltd., Osaka (JP)
Filed by Daifuku Co., Ltd., Osaka (JP)
Filed on Feb. 16, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/443,773.
Claims priority of application No. 2023-023371 (JP), filed on Feb. 17, 2023.
Prior Publication US 2024/0278996 A1, Aug. 22, 2024
Int. Cl. B65G 35/06 (2006.01); B61B 13/12 (2006.01); B65G 43/02 (2006.01); B65G 47/64 (2006.01)
CPC B65G 35/06 (2013.01) [B61B 13/12 (2013.01); B65G 43/02 (2013.01); B65G 47/64 (2013.01); B65G 2203/0283 (2013.01)] 6 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A transport facility comprising:
a transport vehicle configured to travel along a travel route;
a guide rail along the travel route; and
a control system configured to control the transport vehicle, and
wherein:
a travel direction is a direction along the travel route, a width direction is a direction orthogonal to the travel direction in a vertical view, a first side in the width direction is one side in the width direction, and a second side in the width direction is another side in the width direction,
the transport vehicle comprises:
a guided section configured to be guided by the guide rail; and
a guide drive section configured to drive the guided section in the width direction to move the guided section to a first position on the first side in the width direction of the guide rail and to a second position on the second side in the width direction of the guide rail,
the travel route comprises a guide zone in which the guide rail is disposed and a non-guide zone in which the guide rail is not disposed, and
in response to occurrence of a specific event in which the transport vehicle loses information on a travel position thereof, the control system (i) causes the guide drive section to execute a confirmation operation to drive the guided section in the width direction, (ii) determines that the transport vehicle is in the non-guide zone in response to the guided section moving from the first position to the second position or from the second position to the first position in the confirmation operation, and (iii) determines that the transport vehicle is in the guide zone in response to the guided section being prevented from moving from the first position to the second position or from the second position to the first position in the confirmation operation.